Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare failure rates and patient-reported outcomes
between transosseus (TO) suture and suture anchor (SA) quadriceps tendon repairs.
Methods
Following institutional review board approval, patients who underwent primary repair
for quadriceps tendon rupture with TO or SA techniques between January 2009 and August
2018 were identified from an institutional database and retrospectively reviewed.
Patients were contacted for satisfaction (1-10 scale), current function (0-100 scale),
failure (retear), and revision surgeries; International Knee Documentation Committee
(IKDC) score and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcomes Score (KOOS) were also collected
to achieve a minimum of 2-year follow-up.
Results
Sixty-four patients (34 SA, 30 TO) were available by phone or e-mail at a mean of
4.81 ± 2.60 years postoperatively. There were 10 failures, for an overall failure
rate of 15.6%. Failure incidence did not significantly differ between treatment groups
(P = .83). Twenty-seven patients (47% of nonfailed patients) had completed patient-reported
outcomes. The SA group reported higher subjective function (SA: 90 [85-100] vs TO:
85 [60-93], 95% CI of difference: –19.9 to –2.1 × 10–5, P = .042), final IKDC (79.6 [50.0-93.6] vs 62.1 [44.3-65.5], 95% CI of difference:
–33.0 to –0.48, P = .048), KOOS Pain (97.2 [84.7-97.2] vs 73.6 [50.7-88.2], 95% CI of difference: –36.1
to –3.6 × 10–5, P = .037), Quality of Life (81.3 [56.3-93.8] vs 50.0 [23.4-56.3], 95% CI of difference:
–50.0 to –6.2, P = .026), and Sport (75.0 [52.5-90.0] vs 47.5 [31.3-67.5], 95% CI of the difference:
–45.0 to –4.1 × 10–5, P = .048).
Conclusions
There is no significant difference in failure rate between transosseus and suture
anchor repairs for quadriceps tendon ruptures (P = .83). Most failures occur secondary to a traumatic reinjury within the first year
postoperatively. Despite the lack of difference in failure rates, at final follow-up,
patients who undergo suture anchor repair may report significantly greater subjective
function and final IKDC, KOOS Pain, Quality of Life, and Sport scores.
Level of Evidence
III, retrospective cohort study.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 07, 2022
Accepted:
November 18,
2022
Received:
February 8,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this article. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
Selected for podium presentation at AANA Annual Meeting 2022.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the Arthroscopy Association of North America
